Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $6.5\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$161$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${6.5\%} \times {\$161} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $6.5\%$ is equivalent to $6.5 \div 100$ $6.5 \div 100 = 0.065$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.065$ $\times$ $$161$ = $$10.47$ You would pay $$10.47$ in sales tax.